The Central Bureau of Investigation has begun its probe into the murder of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa, visiting crime scenes and registering a fresh FIR while uncertainty continues over the postmortem, which his family has not yet consented to.
A CBI team led by a deputy inspector general-level officer arrived in Mansa around midnight on Tuesday, within hours of the Punjab government handing over the investigation to the central agency. The team first visited Mansa City-2 police station, where the original case had been registered, before beginning an examination of locations connected with the shooting.
Investigators, accompanied by experts from the Chandigarh-based Central Forensic Science Laboratory, visited the medical store owned by accused Ashwani Kumar. The store was partly demolished by the administration and later razed by a mob. The destruction has raised concerns among Jhota’s family and members of the Insaf Committee that material evidence may have been lost.
The CBI team also visited a nearby shoe store where Jhota reportedly sought shelter after being shot and where he died. Officers collected samples from both locations, spoke to shopkeepers and other people who were present on October 13 when Jhota was allegedly gunned down in public, and collected records related to the case. CBI officials did not speak to mediapersons during the visits.
The agency has registered a fresh FIR at its Special Crime Branch police station in Chandigarh. The case invokes Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for murder, Section 109 for attempt to murder, Section 118(1) for voluntarily causing hurt, Section 61(2) for criminal conspiracy and Section 3(5) for common intention. Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act have also been included.
The investigation began as a dispute over the handling of Jhota’s body and the location of the postmortem remained unresolved. The CBI has requested that the autopsy be conducted at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, but Jhota’s family has not given written consent, according to his wife, Manpreet Kaur.
Rumours that the family had agreed to the postmortem circulated after the CBI team reached Mansa. Protesters gathered outside the civil hospital mortuary, where a morcha has continued for more than a week, disputed the reports. Kaur later addressed the protesters and said the family had met the CBI team but had neither signed a document nor consented to the autopsy.
“It pains me that unverified issues are being forwarded without taking a version of the family or the Insaf Committee,” Kaur said, according to the report. She said the committee would examine the matter and that the protesters’ views would also be considered before any decision.
Kaur also criticised the demolition of the medical store and said the family had never demanded that the accused’s shop or house be pulled down. Insaf Committee member Gurlabh Singh Mahal said the group would ask the CBI to examine the demolition because the properties could have been treated as case property and may have contained evidence.
The Insaf Committee is expected to take a decision on the postmortem on Thursday. The CBI’s immediate task is to establish the sequence of events through physical evidence, witness accounts and records while the dispute over the autopsy and the condition of the crime scenes remains unresolved.
